Floor-layer



(No Model.) V

H. G. EPPS. FLOORLAYER.

No'. 474,654. Paten-ted Ma y 10, 189-2. 1

0/ I "QW f I UNiTED States ATENI HENRY GASTON EPPS, OF CAMERON, LOUISIANA.

FLOOR-LAYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,654, dated May 10, 1892.

Application filed August 29, 1391. Serial No. 404,109 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY GASTON EPPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cameron, in the parish of Cameron and State of Louisiana, have inventedcertain new and usefullniprovementsinFloor-Layers; andldodeclare the following to be a full,clear, and 6X act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to floor-layers and has reference to that class of machines in which a great amount of leverage is obtained at a small expense of hand-power.

The invention has for its object to render more efficient the machines which are used in the matching of flooring, ceiling, decking on ships, the; and it consists in the novel combination, arrangement, and adaptation of the parts,which will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the drawings, and then specifically defined in the appended claim.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, like letters of reference indicating like parts throughout the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a floorlayer constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section. Fig. 3 is a detail view in perspective of the joining-link.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A represents the bed of the machine, which-may be of cast-iron or any other suitable material.

B is a clevis or clamp, which is securely portions ffiwhich form the head, and a groove G,which meshes with the tongue of the flooring. The push-bar F has a central flange g, which works in the groove I of the bed-plate. On the push-bar is the rearwardly-extending hook, which is bolted to the push-bar.

K is a hook on the end of the curved end of the lever, and L is a joining-link having the perforations Z l, and one of these perforationsin the operation of the machine is placed over the rearwardly-projecting hook 1', the aperture in the other end of the link engaging with the hook in the head of the lever.

On the curved rack M, which serves as a brace to the supporting-frame O, are the notches m, which serve to hold the lever D (through the agency of the pawl O) in a fixed position, thus keeping up a pressure on the flooring until the boards can be secured by being nailed or otherwise suitably fastened.

The operation of my machine will be readily understood. By raising the handle of the lever to its extreme throw and the connecting or joining link placed over the two hooks described it will be ready for work. It will also be seen that the application of a very small force on the handle of the lever will produce an enormous pressure upon the flooring.

Having thus described my invention,'what I claim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a floor-layer, the combination, with the grooved bed-piece, of a clamp journaled on said bed-piece, an operating-lever adj ustably pivoted in the upright portions of the bedpiece and having one end curved and provided with hook to loosely engage one of the perforations in the joining link, a flanged push bar having hook i slidingly connected with the bed-piece and a joining-link loosely connected with the push-bar and with the operating laver and having a perforation near each end,the rear faces of the upright of the bed-piece being toothed, and a pawl pivoted 011 the operating-lever to engage said teeth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY GASTON EPPS.

WVitncsses:

T. GONZALE, A. MOD. HENRY. 

